Shoe-heel and method of producing the same



L. J. HENRIKSEN.

SHOE HEEL AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 7. I916- Patented J an. 13, 1920.

Dye/11hrh n t 0 m d m E LABS :ronenlv HENRIKSEN', or KAFLINGE, SWEDEN.

SHOE-HEEL AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 13, 1 920.

Applicationfiled September 7, 1916. Serial No. 118,796.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LARS JoRGnN HENRIK- snN,a subject of the King of Sweden, residing at Kiifiinge, in the Kingdom of Sweden, have invented a new and useful Improve ment in Shoe-Heels and Methods of Producing the Same, of which the following is a'specification.

When making heels for boots and shoes, especially in the wholesale manufacture, the heels are as a rule built up from a number of smaller pieces for reducing the cost of manufacture, as in order that the heel shall obtain the required hardness and firmness it is necessary to use first-rate leather in the same, and it would be entirely too expensive to make the heels from whole lifts of such leather. If the heel is to be made from whole lifts exclusively, a considerably inferior quality of leather must be used in order that the cost of production shall not be too great. Hence built-up heels of a bet ter kind of leather are preferred.

The manufacture of such built-up heels as heretofore performed possesses, however, several disadvantages. According to the method of manufacture now most commonly applied. the pieces, two or more in each lift, are placed with their edges abutting, that is to say, the edges are cut straight and the pieces are placed beside each other with their straight edges meeting. As a result of this manner of putting together the pieces, they will not stay closely together when the heel is fastened to the shoe, as the pressure to which the heel is subjected in the machine, is so great that the pieces are often separated. Another still more frequent cause of the separation of the pieces consists in the nails which are driven through the heel for fastening the same and which then often hit the line or scarf between the pieces of the lift and wedge the pieces apart. Whatever be the cause of the separation the result will always be that owing to the pieces being forced apart visible openin s will appear on the outside of the heel. The only manner of removing the openings is to fill the same with leather plugs or with wax, but these fillings usually drop out after only a very short use of the shoes.

It has also been proposed to form the meeting edges of the pieces with overlapping scarfs, but in this manner the disadvantage of the pieces separating is, of course, not obviated, as it is still possible for the pieces to become forced apart owing to the pressure, and in some instances also on account of the nails.

The disadvantages above referred to are completely removed by means of the present invention which makes itpossible to produce built-up heels in which every separate lift may consist of a great number of small pieces, without danger of these pieces becoming separated owing to the pressure in the machine, or on account of the nailing of the heel.

The invention is broadly characterized by this that the meeting edges of the pieces of the lifts are formed in such manner that when joined they positively engage one another, so that they can not be pulled apart by forces acting in the plane of the lift at right angles or approximately right angles to the scarf The most suitable way from a practical point of view, of forming the edges of the pieces is to shape the .same in such manner that the cross section of each edge obtains the shape of a hook, so that the cross section of each finished joint or scarfwill show two hooks positively engaging one another.

A heel produced in this manner may be treated in the machine under high pressure and it may also be nailed without any danger of the pieces becoming separated, as

ment or wedging apart of the pieces can take place, and the ready heel will thus remain perfectly wholeand even on the outside.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which also shows a heel manufactured according to a previous method. Figure 1 shows a plan view. and Fig. 2 a side view of this old heel. Fig. 3 shows a plan view of a built-up lift according to the present invention, and Fig. 4;

shows a cross section of the same on the line IVIV in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 shows a plan view, and Fig. 6 shows a side view of a built-up heel according to the invention. Fig. 7 shows a cross section of another embodiment.

Fig. 1 illustratesthe manner in which in a heel produced from pieces the edges of which are abutting in the ordinary manner, the pieces will be wedged apart at a scarf 1 by a nail 2 hitting the scarf, and Fig. 2 shows the opening 3 thus formed on the outside of the heel.

According to Figs. 3 and 4 the edge of each piece and 5 is formed in such manner even if the nails hit the scarfs no displacethat the cross section of the piece has the shape of a hook. For this purpose each piece is grooved along its edge, the width of said groove 6 being the same as, or preferably, a little less than the width of the ridge 7 left between the groove and the edge. The walls of the groove are perpendicular to the plane of the piece. The top surface of the ridge 7 is as much below the surface of the piece as the thickness of the material below the groove 6, so that when the, pieces are placed together as shown in Fig. 4, the surfaces of the pieces will come in the same plane. By making the ridge 7 somewhat wider than the groove 6 the pieces will be securely held together, without necessitating the use of any adhesive.

The scarfs produced in this manner may be placed in well-nigh any position in the heels without impairing the strength of the heel. As shown in Fig. 5 the lifts may thus be placed in such manner that the scar'fs in one lift cross the scarfs of an adjacent lift, and the scarfs may come close to the sides and corners of the heel, while still being able to withstand high pressure on the heel and the wedging effect of the nails driven into the same, without the pieces of the lifts separating.

' The embodiment illustrated in Fig. 7 differs from the one shown in Figs. 3 and 4: only by the edges of the ridge and of the groove being rounded instead of square.

I claim:

1. The method of producing heels from lifts built up from small pieces of leather, consisting in forming the edges of the pieces in such manner that the cross section of each edge obtains the, shape of a hook adapted positively to engage the hook of a contiguous piece, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The method of producing heels from lifts built up from small pieces of leather, consisting in forming a groove in each piece along the edge of the same at a distance from the edge approximately equal to the width of the groove the walls of which are perpendicular to the planeof the piece, and making the height over the lower sur+ face of the piece, of the ridge formed between the eelge of the piece and the groove, equal to the depth of the groove below the upper surface of the piece, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. A heel consisting of lifts, each of 4 which is composed of a plurality of pieces formed at their contiguous edges with oppositely disposed hooks adapted for interlocking engagement in such wise as to prevent displacement normally to their meeting edges.

4t. A heel consisting of lifts, each of which is composed of a plurality of pieces the contiguous edges of which are formed in such manner that the cross sections of the same have the shapes of hooks adapted positively to engage one another, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. A piece forming part of a composite heel-lift, having a groove with walls perpendicular to the piece, at a distance from the edge of the piece approximately equal to the width of the groove, the depth of which below onesurface of the piece equals the height over the other surface of the piece of the ridge formed between the groove and the edge of the piece.

LABS JoRGEN HENRIKSEN. 

